Hearing the Tokyo String Quartet play musical selections from the great Beethoven brought back many memories for me. My mother, who used to play the violin in orchestras, had brought me up with the music of Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovshy, and other classical geniuses. I haven’t been to any concerts of such a genre in years, but hearing the quartet play brought back the memories of sitting on the grass at SPAC late at night, eating junk food as I played my video game and listened to the music in the background. 

While I’m not exactly a fan of the classical genre, I can appreciate the mood it creates for its audience; it allows the people to just close their eyes and feels relaxed and soothed. My mother constantly says that this generation is always so stressed because we don’t know how to survive without constant stimulation (i.e. tv, internet, entertainment). The Quartet provided absolutely no visual stimulation, only allowing the audience to hear their sound and take it in as they may.

Watching the old people listening to their preferred style of music, many of the gestured with their hands and fingers as if they were the conductors. It was adorable, but it also made me realize that there is such a disconnect between generation. These elderly people are sitting there, understanding the meaning of this music and enjoying it, and us youth are short of being tortured. I found this observation both thought-provoking and sad.

Despite the fact that I’m not into this type of music, I hope that one day I can learn to appreciate it because all music is a gift, not a right.